The War Machine
by G4rrusVakarian
Summary: Some stories are more true than they seem. A late Halloween story.
1. Chapter 1

We have a saying here in Berk. It's not some old adage that's been around forever though. In fact it's only a couple years old but everyone knows it and follows it without fault.

"Do not get in the way of The War Machine."

You may be telling yourself 'well yeah of course I'm going to avoid a War Machine. I'm not dumb.' Which is true you're not dumb. But it's a little more complicated than that.

The War Machine is always around. Always watching, always waiting. Not that it lusts for battle or even wants the rush of the fight either. It doesn't want to fight at all. But it won't turn down a battle if it isn't avoidable.

The War Machine dislikes it's job, dislikes the name too. And the name only used to belong to one of them. Now though The Machine is broken if they're apart. Not that they ever are.

The Machine before the _them_ was thought of as a myth. No one had ever seen it. We knew it existed from the damage it caused, from the houses it burn down, from the people it killed. But if you tried to find that monster you'd only see the night sky. And even though I see it every day now. I still wonder how many times it's passed my gaze without me noticing. I don't miss it anymore. I can see it out there during the nights now. Drinking in the moonlight. Watching, waiting, for something, anything to come our way. Like I said it doesn't lust for battle but the machine grows restless without it.

I remember the night The Machine became more than just the inky black scales of a monster.

People don't scream Night Fury because it's fun. There is always terror in the voice that says it's name.

That night the rain poured down. A neighboring village was short on supplies for the freeze and decided to attack us. I along with a group of others were fighting in the streets. Swords clashing, people's faces being smashed by hammers. It was gruesome on the streets of Berk. And it only got worse as The Machine landed on a house nearby.

I heard the familiar yells of Hiccup, who was scolding the machine. Which normally worked. That night it wasn't though. I finished off my small skirmish quickly so I could watch them.

The machine, Toothless, shook Hiccup from his back. Something he'd never do. He jumped from the roof, down to the streets covered in red. Hiccup was at the edge of the roof threatening to fall off. He was screaming his head off. Until The War Machine took its first victim.

Toothless found a straggler. He was looking around for someone to battle, until Toothless turned his head and bit into him. Shaking him around like a toy before tossing him away.

Hiccup yelling stopped then. His look reflected us all. We were scared of Toothless. Hiccup tried to find a way down. He needed to get away from what he saw. But he was forced to watch as Toothless made his way down the street. Ripping people limb by limb. Spilling blood and entrails as he went.

You could see Hiccup change in that moment. His friend had broken there one rule. You could see the anger, betrayal, the sorrow in his eyes. He knows you can't take the dragon out them. Just like you can't take the Viking out of us.

He felt so foolish for thinking he'd trained the want to kill out of Toothless. But it wasn't the want to kill that drove Toothless' actions. It was the want to protect. Something they shared wholeheartedly. So when Hiccup jumped from the roof, grabbed the axe from my hands and started running down the street. I couldn't help but follow. When he reached Toothless he swung that axe as hard as possible.

He decapitated a man rushing Toothless. As the man's head hit the ground the battle stopped. People from both side looked on in horror as Hiccup ripped the axe out of the stone street. He'd changed. Not only was he carrying a much too large axe, his eyes glazed over and the way he carried himself looked animalistic.

Our enemy ran. Terrified of not only the Night Fury that was seemingly invisible in battle. But from Hiccup.

They left too. We didn't see them for over a year. Most thought they died, while others just assumed Hiccup couldn't live with himself.

Until they came back. They walked into the village like nothing happened. Hiccup was barely covering himself but that isn't what people were looking at. His whole physique was different. Hiccup was scrawny before now though? He's built out and lean. He's not huge. He could never be huge but I'm sure many of the adults wouldn't pick a fight. But the more you looked the more you saw. Claw and bite marks covered his skin. Some trophies others not. And when you tried to speak to him he'd only grunt or use broken Norse, like a child.

He wasn't human anymore. The way he walked, his sharpened nails, the way he interacted with things. It was the same way the dragon's did when they first started living with us. Cautious and slow, making sure it wasn't some trap.

They settled back into the village. But he still couldn't talk. So many people tried to teach him again with little luck. Before everyone gave up he could make sentences but couldn't hold a conversation. People didn't pay attention to him again. Like before. Now it was because they thought he was a lost hope instead of being useless. What they didn't see was how he interacted with the dragons. He could talk. Very well actually. The random sounds we thought was making were words no one could understand. Unless you lived with a dragon for a year. Maybe then you could understand him.

We were right not to think of him as a human anymore. He was a dragon stuck in a human body. He could act and speak like them. Move and think like them.

But I'm off topic. The War Machine. That's what you're here for. And here's what you need to know. The Machine wasn't made. It wasn't forged, though some parts have been.

The Machine is two dragons. The first being the ever watchful eye of the Night Fury. A name many shiver at just hearing it. And the other is a boy. Though you shouldn't think of him as anything less than a dragon. Although he doesn't have wings or scales, and we can't confirm if he can breath fire or not, he's not to be messed with. Or treated any differently.

We know the Fury is stable but we're not sure of him. Many of us think that he keeps Hiccup in check. We're not sure how well. We know that during times of war The Machine is a force of its own.

Many battles have been prevented by them. Attackers don't like seeing an angry Night Fury and the evil smile of his handler.

We rarely fight anymore. You don't get many attackers when the word of a man named dragon and his partner live amongst you. So when we do it's quite a show. People being burnt alive and chopped up. The sight even makes some of the strongest Vikings gag.

"Astrid are you telling the new recruits stories again?"

"I uhmm oh hey Hiccup. No, I wasn't doing that. Not at all. Nope. Not one bit. Nooooo."

"Mmhm. Well just remember to tell them 'The War Machine' doesn't take prisoners. And that the 'man named dragon' need you to run the recruits through drills once you're finished scaring them."

"Well uhmm you heard him. Time to practice. Let's go."

 _Later in the Great Hall._

"Astrid, I need you to stop telling the recruits those stories."

"It's not like they believe them. Even if they are true."

"It doesn't matter if they're true or not. I can't talk to any of them because they think I'm going to hurt or kill them."

"Would you?"

"Astrid, one of them almost wet himself when I asked him to grab my sword for me. And you know I won't hurt my people."

"Fine. I'll stop telling the stories. But how are they going to learn how dangerous you and Toothless are?"

"I'm sure you'll figure it out some way. Sooner than later."

" _Toothless."_

" _Yes love?"_

" _I think I saw some suspicious ships earlier. I'd like to check it out. See if they're still around."_

" _So The War Machine awakens from its slumber then?"_

" _Yes, yes it does."_


	2. Update

Due to popular demand this will get some extra chapters. I don't know when these chapters will come due to having a lot of other stories and one shots that I'm working on and would like to finish first. Such as The Ones You Trust and Into The Night being my two large focuses right now. Along with Eight Years being an off again and on again story that will get content as it comes to me since it has no continual story line (If that doesn't make since read it and I give more information on how that works). And after they're finished I have some other multi-chapter stories that I'm thinking of that will likely include this. So expect more of this in the future.


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